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    GP 26 Solns

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    hijazic957
    1) For a particle in a potential energy function, the curvature of its wavefunction must be zero at the boundary between the classically allowed and forbidden regions, indicating an inflection point. 2) For a 50 eV electron trapped between 200 eV walls, its wavefunction will penetrate 0.016 nm beyond the walls. 3) If an electron's wavefunction penetrates 1 nm into a potential well, 38 meV of energy is required for the electron to escape the well.

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    GP 26 Solns

    Uploaded by

    hijazic957
    38 views2 pages
    1) For a particle in a potential energy function, the curvature of its wavefunction must be zero at the boundary between the classically allowed and forbidden regions, indicating an inflection point. 2) For a 50 eV electron trapped between 200 eV walls, its wavefunction will penetrate 0.016 nm beyond the walls. 3) If an electron's wavefunction penetrates 1 nm into a potential well, 38 meV of energy is required for the electron to escape the well.

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    1) For a particle in a potential energy function, the curvature of its wavefunction must be zero at the boundary between the classically allowed and forbidden regions, indicating an inflection point. 2) For a 50 eV electron trapped between 200 eV walls, its wavefunction will penetrate 0.016 nm beyond the walls. 3) If an electron's wavefunction penetrates 1 nm into a potential well, 38 meV of energy is required for the electron to escape the well.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    38 views2 pages

    GP 26 Solns

    Uploaded by

    hijazic957
    1) For a particle in a potential energy function, the curvature of its wavefunction must be zero at the boundary between the classically allowed and forbidden regions, indicating an inflection point. 2) For a 50 eV electron trapped between 200 eV walls, its wavefunction will penetrate 0.016 nm beyond the walls. 3) If an electron's wavefunction penetrates 1 nm into a potential well, 38 meV of energy is required for the electron to escape the well.

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    Group Problems #26 - Solutions

    Monday, October 31

    Problem 1 Wavefunction curvature in classically forbidden region


    A finite potential energy function U (x) allows ψ(x), the solution of the time-independent
    Schrödinger equation, to penetrate the classically forbidden region. Without assum-
    ing any particular function for U (x), show that ψ(x) must have an inflection point at
    any value of x where it enters a classically forbidden region.
    The time-independent Schrödinger equation is given by:

    ~2 d2 ψ(x)
    − + U (x)ψ(x) = Eψ(x) (1)
    2m dx2
    (2)
    2
    d ψ(x) 2m
    =⇒ = [U (x) − E] ψ(x), (3)
    dx2 ~2
    where E is the total energy of a particle with mass m. The left side of Eqn. 2
    represents the curvature of the wavefunction ψ(x) (remember your calculus - the first
    derivative is the slope, the second derivative is the curvature). An inflection point is a
    point where the curvature changes sign, that is where d2 ψ(x)/dx2 = 0. Inspection of
    Eqn. 2 shows that this happens when E = U (x) and/or when ψ(x) = 0. In general,
    ψ(x) 6= 0, so we must have E = U (x), which is exactly the boundary between the
    classically allowed (E > U (x)) and forbidden (E < U (x)) regions.

    Problem 2 Penetration depth, I


    A 50 eV electron is trapped between electrostatic walls 200 eV high. How far does
    its wavefunction extend beyond the walls?
    The penetration depth, δ, is given by:
    1 ~ ~c
    δ≡ =p =p . (4)
    α 2m(U0 − E) 2mc2 (U0 − E)

    1
    2

    For the current problem, E = 50 eV, and U0 = 200 eV, so U0 − E = 150 eV. Also,
    me c2 = 511 × 103 eV and ~c = 197 eV·nm. Thus,
    ~c 197
    δ=p =p = 0.016 nm. (5)
    2mc2 (U0 − E) 2(511 × 103 ) · 150

    Problem 3 Penetration depth, II


    An electron is trapped in a finite well. Its wavefunction penetrates into the classically
    forbidden region by 1 nm. How much energy is required to “free” the electron from
    the well?
    What we want is the difference between the energy of the electron and the top of the
    potential well, U0 − E. Solving Eqn. 4 for U0 − E, we have

    (~c)2 1972
    U0 − E = = = 38 meV. (6)
    2mc2 δ 2 2(511 × 103 ) · 12

    course name PS #

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